Family Photo Session Not Your Average Day at the Beach

What started last August as a leisurely, enjoyable family reunion beach photo shoot in San Clemente, Calif., quickly turned into one of the most horrifying, yet candidly hilarious moments caught on camera.

"In my family we have about 18 of us, and a lot of kids," Steve Cramer, 32, of Castle Rock, Colo., told GoodMorningAmerica.com. "We started out taking the large photo getting everyone to smile. But as you can imagine, getting all those kids to sit and smile doesn't go so well.

"When we finished with that, my 4-year-old was done. He had had enough. But my wife and I were all on the beach in the coordinating outfits and we really wanted to get one good picture to show off our happy family, but it wasn't going so hot."

To help ease the children's nerves, someone suggested the family try to do a candid pose to distract the young boys with some fun.

"We swung them around a couple times, but the final time I heard my wife just go, 'Ahhhh!' so I turn around and I see my son just gracefully and peacefully doing this full layout back flip, landing flat on his back in the sand," Cramer explained. "We were just shocked."

Fortunately, as most kids are, their 6-month-old son Edison was perfectly fine and after a few tears, bounced back within two minutes.

"He sniffled a little bit," said Cramer. "But my dad is a pediatrician and looked him over and said, 'Oh, he's fine.'"

Once the family had regained composure, Cramer and wife Elizabeth took a peek at the pictures the photographer had captured, curious if the spontaneous moment had been caught on camera. It had, and the photo has now raked in nearly 2 million views after being posted to Reddit.

"We looked and we got this incredible photo. It's hilarious," Cramer said. "Everything could have gone wrong, but it ended as best as possible. Every time I look at the picture, though, my palms still get a little sweaty."

Cramer is ultimately glad to have such an amazing photo that he says solidifies their family dynamic.